Chapter 7 - The Siege
The Moretti estate descended into absolute chaos. The sound of automatic gunfire erupted from the front lawn, followed by the shouts of men dying.
Lucian pulled Sienna to her feet. "Stay behind me. We need to get to the panic room in the basement."
"Where is Lily?" Sienna demanded, her heart hammering wildly.
"Her room is on the second floor. Maria is with her. We have to move!"
They sprinted out of the kitchen and into the grand foyer. The massive mahogany front doors were splintering under heavy fire. Two of Lucian's guards were returning fire from behind marble pillars, their suits covered in plaster dust.
"Boss! It's the Bratva!" one of the guards yelled before a round caught him in the shoulder, spinning him to the ground.
Lucian fired three precise shots through the broken door, covering their movement. "Move up the stairs!" he ordered Sienna.
They raced up the grand staircase. The mansion was a maze of red emergency lights and choking smoke. When they reached the second-floor landing, Sienna saw the door to Lily's room at the end of the hall.
Suddenly, a figure stepped out from a side corridor, raising a submachine gun. A Bratva soldier in full tactical gear.
Sienna didn't hesitate. She didn't have her rusted metal rod, but she had the instincts of a soldier. She grabbed a heavy bronze bust from a hallway pedestal and hurled it with all her might. It struck the soldier square in the face mask. He staggered backward, his gun firing wildly into the ceiling.
Lucian didn't miss a beat. He stepped around Sienna and put two rounds into the man's chest. The soldier dropped.
"Good arm," Lucian grunted, keeping his weapon raised as they reached Lily's door. He kicked it open.
"Maria! Lily!" Lucian called out.
The room was empty. The bed was unmade, and the window was wide open, cold night air blowing the silk curtains into the room.
Lucian's face went pale. "No..."
Sienna rushed into the room, scanning the space. There was no sign of struggle, no blood. She looked at the open window. It led out to the balcony that connected to the security wing.
"Lucian," Sienna said urgently, pointing to the floor. Lying near the doorway, discarded and forgotten, was Mr. Barnaby. The teddy bear.
Lucian picked it up, his hands shaking with rage. "They took her."
"No, the Bratva didn't make it up here yet. That soldier was the first one we saw on this floor," Sienna reasoned rapidly, her mind clicking into tactical mode. "If they didn't take her, someone on the inside did. Someone who knew exactly where she was and used the explosion as a distraction."
Lucian's eyes widened in horrifying realization. "Marcus."
Sienna bolted for the door. "Where would he take her? The panic room?"
"No, the panic room locks from the outside, it's a dead end," Lucian said, running after her. "The underground garage. There's an extraction tunnel that leads past the perimeter."
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"We have to cut him off," Sienna said, grabbing a discarded handgun from the dead Bratva soldier in the hallway. She checked the magazine. Full. "Show me the way."
They descended the back servant stairs, avoiding the main firefight in the foyer. The roar of battle was deafening, a symphony of destruction tearing apart the gilded cage. But Sienna didn't care about the mansion. She only cared about the little girl in the pink dress. She had failed to save a child once. She would burn the world down before she let it happen again.
